Mavs have a leadership problem | Cuban and Harlabob argue on Twitter

[mavsluvr]

Last night's 107-91 loss to the Pels is yet another candidate for most disappointing game of the season.

Not sure if any others feel this way but Luka is a big part of the problem. This team can't be taken seriously if he's not going to play defense and show some maturity as a leader on the offensive end. He hammed it up when they got a big lead in the first matchup and he didn't respect the game in the rematch.

It may be time to call it like we see it. Luka took bad shots, turned the ball over, constantly complained to the refs, faked getting hit and injured, and didn't play defense. And it's not the first time.

Luka is clearly the Mavs best player .... but he's failing as a leader.

I wouldn't use the phraseology of "failing" as a leader. Maybe more a case of misplaced expectations, if they were really relying on Luka to do this. 

Regarding expecting Luka to be a tribal chief passing on the wisdom of the ages to his team (not that you said exactly this, OP), I'm not sure that goal is entirely realistic. The point is often made that it is very hard to find a title team whose best player is under 25. For one thing, very young players inherently don't have as much NBA experience as the salty old veterans. Second, they're, well, very young. It's a biological fact that the brains of young men don't fully mature until their mid-twenties. Luka is perfectly capable of leading in the sense of running the offense, but the Yoda role probably needs to be fulfilled by someone older. (Which I don't read you as disagreeing with.) 

KP has some leadership skills but by all accounts he's struggled with confidence and is just trying to reestablish himself as a valuable contributor to winning. He doesn't yet have the credibility to lead this team and he hasn't shown he can stay healthy.

THJ was anointed a leader but he's played himself onto the bench and is Exhibit A of guys who don't play defense if shots aren't dropping. He's hunting shots, and usually missing.

Brunson seems to be quietly playing for himself. He's scoring well but doesn't play much defense. And as a classic second-round-hard-working-chip-on-his-shoulder type guy, something tells me it may be difficult for him to truly respect at a kid like Doncic, with all the talent in the world, who doesn't work on his body or give full effort every night.

I have never heard anything to the effect that Brunson has no respect for Luka. (Or that any other Mav disrespects Luka, for that matter.) It is totally possible to deeply respect and admire a guy's talents and skills and character, even if the guy isn't perfect. Have you received an indication that the other players are viewing Luka and his body/effort with disgust? It is one thing to acknowledge that Luka probably doesn't have the age and experience to be the veteran leader. It's an entirely different thing to say that Luka's teammates think that Luka is unworthy of respect.  

Powell can only lead by example of his hard work if he's playing well .... but he's not.

Dorian seems like the most mature guy on the floor at times but he's just a do-it-all hustle player. It's laughable to expect him or Kleber to lead a playoff team.

Some good points made here. I would buy that the Mavs don't have that "old head" in the room to keep them pointed in the right direction. Ideally, the coaching staff could provide that, but if the team is tuning them out to an extent, then maybe it needs to come from a player. 

In the meantime, it's probably going to take a few years for Luka to evolve into a Chris Paul-like savant.